War of the Relics: Chaos in the Middle

Gunvor motioned his Storm-shield bearing warrior to the front. They would advance under cover of the shield to come to grips with the Land Raider and destroy it before it could harm their brethren.

Stumpy punched his brother. "We are not running. Lets take that thing down." Suiting actions to words, he fired his Lascannon 1-handed at the Land Raider, taking away slabs of armor and noticeably weakening the mighty warmachine.

I have been keeping the dice separate for the 2 lascannons. The properly built model has proven incompetent, either missing entirely or failing to glance/penetrate. Stumpy has been devastating in this battle. A story behind the model with the stump..

His prey all but out of sight, Ovidius pointed towards the nearby Terminators. Instantly one was vaporized under the fire of his lascannons. The other lascannon missed and the bolter saw its efforts deflected by armor, but he was making progress.

Trebuchet saw the Chaos Chosen moving by. Instantly he redeployed his  men to restrict entrance into the ruins and give the Cyclone Missile Launchers clear shots, but their missiles could do no damage.

Njal wandered forward considering charging into the battle but choosing instead to keep himself shrouded.

Marius looked at the oncoming Chaos Chosen and redeployed his men. They would hold their objective while taking down the minions of Chaos. Unfortunately the armor of the Chosen proved every bit as stout as that of his own unit.

Batbayor gestured to the hated Space Wolves. "Lets go do some killing, boys." His men unleashed a hail of fire, killing one as they advanced. 

The unmistakable hiss of jetpacks signaled the arrival of Zhi and his crisis suits. They unleashed a hail of fire on the back of the Chaos Chosen. Missiles, Fusion blasters, Plasma rifles and Burst cannons unleashed, slaying three of the blue-clad Chosen.


The Chaos units that have come on just cannot catch a break...though to be fair, the left side of the board has pretty well failed up as almost everyone either enters on that side or has an objective on that side. 

The exceptions to missions are the land raider and Crisis suit teams with Overwhelming Firepower and the Chosen trying to destroy something in close combat...so it makes sense to leave the other side of the field lightly inhabited.

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 23 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x15, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 5 Kill Point x1, Objective x 4
Chaos Space Marines: 0

War of the relics; Chaos returns

With Ingvar dead the Long Fangs were going to need even more assistance. Yet Gunvor knew he could not leave his post. no matter how much he wished to leave his post the needs of the Wolves as a Chapter meant more than his desire for personal glory. His men edged ever closer to the edge of disobeying orders but remained in place...for now.

Stumpy took careful aim. Triggering his Lascannon mere moments after the krak missile bounced off the tank and his partner's laser went wide, he found a chink in the armor. The tank veered but kept coming on.

Ovidius shouted for a damage report. The stuttering of his crew's response let him know they were shaken but they managed to trigger their weapons, albeit a bit less accurately. Still, they managed to slay the missile launcher which sent the last two Long Fangs running off the hill. Satisfied, he began searching for a new target.

The Land Raider shot pretty well for firing only Snap Shots, hitting 3 times though only wounding once. Still, the Fangs fled...4". Had they fled 4-1/8 they would have been gone.

Luce directed his cyclone missile launchers to fire at the Land Raider again but they both missed widely.

Marius led his men at a run towards Gunvor. "We will hold this, you go take down that Land raider before it kills us all!"

Batbayor led his men onto the field of battle. Quickly he identified the best target for his men and led them running straight towards the Space Wolf Grey hunters. Soon battle would be joined.

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 19 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x11, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 4 Kill Point x1, Objective x 3
Chaos Space Marines: 0

War of the Relics; Too much of a good thing

Gunvor watched as the Land Raider moved inexorably towards the Long Fangs. If their Lascannons did not get to work soon they would be nothing but smoking bodies on the hilltop. He led his men toward the hill to his own left, on the verge of deserting his post. What meant more, guarding an objective nobody was coming for or the lives of his brethren?

Even as Gunvor began mobilizing his men, Ingvar stepped to the front, exhorting his men to take out the Land Raider. Their shots were striking it but could not penetrate the thick armor. 

The rule is the closest model is the casualty. By moving the grenade launcher, which needed a 6 to glance anyway, and the captain, I protected the two lascannons from the brunt of the fire. Strictly practicing effective defense of the most important models.


Captain Ovidius saluted the courage of the Space Wolf officer. It had been a brave thing he had done, if a bit suicidal. His gambit had been successful, as the lascannon blast had torn him in half but missed the lascannons behind him that were the only real threat to the Land Raider. The bolters rained bullets off the other Long Fangs, but their armor proved up to the challenge.

Trebuchet nodded to his two cyclone-wielding terminators and they launched Krak missiles at the only target they could see, the Land Raider. He did not expect to do much damage but if they could damage it, all the better. And if it came near, they would tear it apart with their Thunder Hammers...

Marius led his men in at the run. Radio chatter told him Gunvor was leaving a vital objective untended. He needed to get there before it fell into the wrong hands. He saw the land raider to his left but there was little harm he could do to it anyway. Rather, his power fist could probably do some damage, but little else in his unit could hurt the behemoth. Better to take over the task of sitting on the intelligence while Gunvor led his unit to destroy the tank.

I almost re-rolled when two more units of Space Wolves came on in the last two turns, but again decided to keep the results as there is no "winning" this game or losing it. 

I am beginning to regret the static objective. I think some interesting stuff could be happening if units were moving around the field. So I have decided to artificially mid-game change the rules. If a unit is relieved (a second unit from the same army with the same objective) arrives, the unit being relieved may make one roll on the Missions table, choosing to keep the current mission or switch to the new mission.

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 16 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x8, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 3 Kill Point x1, Objective x 2
Chaos Space Marines: 0

War of the Relics; Enter the Stormcaller

Gunvor ground his teeth in frustration. He so desperately wanted to engage the Land Raider..or the Dark Angel Terminators...and he was here babysitting some unknown relic. Still, wisdom was the better part of valor. He redeployed his men to take care of the difficult terrain and fired a few harmless shots at the back of the terminators.

Ingvar meanwhile watched as the Krak Missiles and Lascannon blasts bounced just as harmlessly off the mighty armor of the Ultramarine Land Raider.

Ovidius looked at the bodies laying around the field. Ahead of him were the Terminators, but closer and far more dangerous were the Long Fangs on a nearby hill. Turning to face them, he smiled as his Lascannon blasted one of them clean off the hilltop. Their armor was proof against his Heavy Bolters, but he had begun inflicting casualties and was pleased.

Commander Tai gestured his men deeper into the ruins. He knew full well his men could not stand up to the Deathwing Terminators in front of him. His men's fusion blasters could not penetrate their armor, however, nor did the cannons. He knew he was in trouble.

Luce watched the cowardly Tau slink away. Doggedly he gestured his men forward, picking up speed to crash into them. The Terminators were not bothered by the snap shots taken by the Tau Stealth team as they went in, nor were the flailing blows of any concern, even though many hit. They counted on their armor to withstand the blows and the thunder hammers to squish the Stealth Suits. Both assumptions proved correct as they surged forward to take the objective they had been given.

It was the bad luck of the Tau to come on by objective three, needing to get to objective one, only to run into the Deathwing scattering to between them and escape, needing to get to objective 3. Again I see the power of the no-armor save power fist. Fully 13 wounds were dished out, and with only cover saves, which you cannot take in cc, the Stealth Team was just another stain on the field. The battle took place on the objective, so the Deathwing got a two-fer, and with 8 left they are going to be tough to dig out of that objective.

Njal knew multiple units of Wolves were on-planet. He was not particularly surprised to see Gunvor holding an objective impatiently and Ingvor involved with a Land Raider. He advanced to his objective and looked around for a target for his mighty psychic powers. Seeing the Deathwing, he unleashed the wolves, killing one terminator, but the power of the warp was so strong he took a wound. He then shrouded himself.

In a fortuitous roll, Njal came on the board by his objective. Hiding behind the wrecked Hammerhead and shrouded, in Terminator armor, he can stick around a while picking up cheap points.


VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 15 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x7, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 2 Kill Point x1, Objective x1
Chaos Space Marines: 0

War of the Relics; Ultramarine Vengeance

Gunvor looked at the assortment of weapons his men were carrying. Not one of them could penetrate the armor of the mighty Land Raider. However, if he could only close with it, they could tear the tank apart with their power fists and Thunder Hammer. Nodding to his men, they sheltered under the shadow of the nearby statue.

Meanwhile, Ingvar and his men took aim at the little of the Land Raider they could see but the ruins that slowed it also protected it, rendering their fire fruitless.

Commander tai led his men forward at a ruin, getting to the edge of the ruins. He figured shortly they would be able to unleash a storm of fire on the nearby Space Wolf Terminators.

His mind changed as his unit flopped to the ground around him even as the one remaining gun drone blew apart.


Captain Ovidius cursed the lost time as his Land Raider cleared the last vestiges of the bunkers. One track shuddered but stayed on. 

Now he was in the opening and could unleash the might of his moving death-dealing machine. He unleashed everything he had at the Tau Stealth Team straight ahead. With satisfaction he watched one of their accursed drones blow apart and what appeared to be fully half their unit fall to the power of his heavy Bolters. It was a good day to be an Ultramarine.

I gave the Stealth Team their cover save on top of the ruins save. It did not matter a lot as they rolled a ton of 1s. Okay, so Land Raiders CAN do damage...

Luce and his men were used to deep striking into battle. He was not shocked when they deviated one quick march from their objective. What did surprise him was the presence of the 3 Tau Stealth Team directly in front of him. Cursing the lack of ranged weapons, nevertheless he watched the Cyclone Missile Launchers erupt in flame, sending Krak missiles at the Stealth team, only to whistle harmlessly by them, foiled by the rubble the Stealth team protected itself in.

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 13 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x5, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 0
Chaos Space Marines: 0

War of the Relics; Exit the Ultramarines, enter the Ultramarines

 "Guard the objective" snarled Gunvor. Still smarting from the loss of 60% of his command, he was chafing to get into combat and the never-ending task of guarding an objective whose value he did not know was only exacerbating the situation.

Unfortunately, the only target in sight was the hapless remainders of the Ultramarine tactical unit. Gunvor and his men fired away but their fire was ineffective. For the moment he would have to satisfy with himself with the knowledge he was accomplishing his mission all but uncontested.

I considered bringing in 2-3 units from each army, but the purpose of this game is to get used to moving, shooting, learning rules like pinning, morale, and seeing how effective...or ineffective...any given weapon is so I elected to just keep doing it the way I have been. On the bright side, it keeps the turns quick and easily managed...on the dark side, the Space Wolves are dominating.

Doggedly the Ultramarines advanced to seize the objective, with the Plasma Gun moving to a better firing position. His movement jostled his aim and he missed, as did the captain, but the missile Launcher hit the stealth unit hard. Only one drone was knocked out of commission, however...

Casualties had taken away their holding the objective and taken them out of squad coherency. I found that by moving the captain forward and shifting the Plasma Gun I could fire the missile launcher Frag grenade and still snap shot with the Plasma. 

The Grenade did 4 wounds due to how crowded the Tau Stealth team was, but only one was not saved.  In a way it was a glorious last stand...they had done nothing of note since wiping out the Hammerhead, though they had held the objective for quite some time.

"I saw your pathetic shooting, Gunvor" radioed Ingvar. "A shiny new Storm Bolter on whether my boys can outshoot you?"

Gunvor accepted the bet and started laughing as the two missiles sailed way over their targets and one Lascannon buried in the crumbling walls of the ruins sheltering the Ultramarines. His laughter stopped as Stumpy fired and took out the Ultramarine captain. The damage proved too much for the beleagured Ultramarines and they turned and fled.

The Long Fangs are sitting alone on a hill with good line of sight to virtually the entire field. With nobody threatening them they are able to plink away. Having their Frag Grenades scatter 10 and 11 inches limits the damage they do, and the ruins gave cover from the Lascannon, but they still have been the MVP so far, blowing up Land Raiders, running off the rugged, stubborn Ultramarines...I am learning the power of the Long Fangs.

Commander Tai chuckled gleefully as the blue-clad Ultramarines took to their heels. "We have company, boys, and they did part of our work for us. Lets go find some enemies."

Waving his arm, he led his men running through the ruins that hid them from view of whoever had fired on the Ultramarines.

"Ovidius reporting for duty". Captain Ovidius of the Ultramarines had heard the distress calls from Captain Aelius and his long-time friend Decimus as well as a third unidentified man, someone who was leading a unit of tacticals to recover some bit of tech. He had thundered his Land Raider toward the field of battle as quickly as possible, yet now that he should be in radio range, all he heard was silence over the com.

It seemed likely the targets he was picking up on the instruments had something to do with the radio silence. He did not know who they were but it mattered not. He would wreak a terrible vengeance on them.

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 12 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x4, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 0
Chaos Space Marines: 0

War of the Relics; Long Fangs and Stealthy Tau

Gunvor could not see the tank but he heard the chatter of fire and its treads crushing rubble underneath. The warrior in him felt a bit of regret for the Ultramarines now caught betweeen him and the tank which was making it clear it was not a friend to the Ultramarines.

Still, he would have expected no mercy had he been in that situation and he owed them the respect due them as warriors. He would honor their courage and skill greatly if they found a way out of their predicament. He led his men closer, while still maintaining his post guarding whatever treasure was buried in the ground. The 3 remaining ranged weapons of his company fired at the beleaguered Ultramarines, though their shots had no effect.

In a fit of good luck, the Ultramarines made 6 or 7 saves. Still, another easy VP for the Space Wolves. I am definitely seeing the power of a rugged unit sitting on an objective. It is a good way to pile up points and if you can protect it, so much the better.

It was obvious the Tacticals could not threaten the Land Raider in front of them as only the Krak missile from the launcher could even penetrate the armor. Stoically, they advanced towards their objective, hoping to at least take the pesky fire of the Space Wolves out of the equation and perhaps shove a krak grenade down the hatch in close combat with the Land Raider. They considered firing at the Raider but decided instead to run for cover.

A Land raider is a tough nut to crack for tacticals, and one snap shot needing a 6 to hit and another 6 just to glance seemed pretty pointless so I hoped instead to get them as much out of sight as possible. A whopping 2 for distance was technically not enough to get the 2 guys to the second level...but they have already suffered so much...

The Dark Angel commander Florent looked with disdain at the Ultramarine cowards scurrying for cover before the might of his mighty land Raider. He considered slaying them all simply to demonstrate his superiority, but his navigator pointed out the dangers of toiling through ruins. Even a Land Raider could throw a track.

Nodding acquiescence, Florent pointed through the nearby wall. "Lets get out of these ruins and head towards our objective."

The mighty Land Raider shuddered as it crashed through the wall into the open and turned toward the objective.

Florent checked the coordinates and looked at his instruments. There was no doubt about it, there were 4 Space Wolf Terminators squarely on top of his objective. He smiled gleefully. He would accomplish his mission while taking out the arrogant pups.

I think I actually played this a bit illegally. I went "flat out" instead of shooting to clear the ruins. I think the rule is no flat out in dangerous terrain. I only realized this after playing another turn, however...so be it. I also made the choice because  only the Hurricane Bolters on the right and Assault Cannon in the turret had line of sight and they could not even take out Power Armor...not liking their chances against Terminators.

As an aside, I think a Land Raider without at least one AP2 or better is wasted points. You HAVE to be able to take out tough targets. I think it is poor against any Space Marine or equivalent. Sheer volume will do a few casualties, but I would rather have effective shooting...

Ingvar smiled gleefully as the Land raider hove into view. "Target practice, boys!" Almost before the echo of his voice faded two crack missiles thudded into the Land Raider's front armor but were deflected. One lascannon missed entirely but the one-handed Stumpy was more effective. The bright ruby laser found a chink in the armor and the land Raider instantly exploded, tearing itself apart  in a fiery wreck. Stumpy raised his fist in salute to his vanquished foe.

Well that was...uh...lucky. A 3 to hit, 6 to penetrate, and 6+1 for high AP on the damage table equals one dead Land Raider. The Wolves are starting to run amok.

Commander Tai signaled to his stealth team. They nodded acquiescence and slowly worked their way through the ruins to line up the hapless Ultramarines in their sights. 

So skilled were his men that the first the Ultramarines knew of their presence was the unleashing of gunfire. Two marines fell to the Fusion Blasters, but their armor was proof against the remaining fire of his unit. No matter, Tai would wipe them out, advance to his objective, report back and then find out what had happened to Commander Bau.

The poor Ultramrines just cannot catch a break. Any roll but a three and the Tau would not have encountered them. Instead they are squarely in the path the Tau need to take. One might guess they are not long for this game...

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 10 First Blood, kill points x4, objectivesx4, Overwhelming Firepower
Ultramarines 7;  kill points x2, objective x5
Dark Angels: 0
Chaos Space Marines: 0

War of the Relics: Raiding the Land

Decimus leveled his Storm Bolter at the much-shrunken unit of Space Wolf terminators, but was not surprised to see his bolts ricochet away harmlessly.

This is one of the weaknesses of the scenario I set up. Really there is nothing a single Terminator sergeant can realistically do...so hiding out plinking away and picking up Objective points until his almost inevitable timely demise is about all he can do.

The Space Wolves returned fire as they clustered around their objective. Their fire proved too effective and Decimus slumped to the ground, the last Ultramarine terminator dying with a whimper.

Meanwhile, the Tacticals tried to decide if they should fire at the terminators or take their own objective. They opted to seize the objective, but strung themselves out to give themselves a good line of fire at the terminators the next round.

Ingvar gestured towards the far-off Tactical marines. "Unleash, boys." Instantly the Lascannons unleashed their fury even as two frag grenades rocketed into the strung-out tacticals. When the smoke cleared fully half the unit was laying dead. Ingvar smiled in satisfaction. His men were proving their worth.

Sitting on a hill with good visibility, the first grenade scattered perfectly and the second hit. Only one Lascannon hit but the cover save was no more effective than the armor saves as only one Ultramarine passed his 3+ save in 6 attempts. Ouch...And the plasma and missile launcher would have been casualties if not for the "closest model to the firing unit" rule.

The poor Ultramarine Tactical troopers were still reeling from the devastating fire the Long Fangs had subjected to when even worse news greeted them. With a thunderous squeal, a Dark Angel Land Raider began crushing its way through the ruins surrounding their objective.

It unleashed a hailstorm of fire but to the relief of the Ultramarines, this time their armor held up under the assault. Still, things were looking dim for their future...


VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 7 First Blood, kill points x3, objectivesx3
Ultramarines 6;  kill points x2, objective x4

War of the Relics; Terminators Everywhere

Though there was but one Berzerker remaining Decimus did not take him lightly. Even had he such a notion, the armor of the Berzerker proving up to the task of deflecting his blows would have disabused him of that notion, even as the armor of his squad-make sparked in defiance of the Berzerker's attacks.

The power armor did, however, melt under the hammering, crushing blows of the power fist blows dealt by the Ultramarine terminators. As the last Chaos Space Marine crumpled to the ground, Decimus was already leading his men towards their nearby objective.

I considered moving them towards the Space Wolf Terminators but A) 3 Termies v. 10 seems heavily weighted in the favor of the 10 and B) three Terminators in cover could prove a tough nut to crack. Plus, sliding into the terrain having garnered a kill point and now seizing their objective, the Ultramarines added two VP to their total.

VP
Tau: 3 (Objective)
Space Wolves: 3  First Blood, Kill point (HQ), Objective
Ultramarines: 3 (kill point (Hammerhead), kill Point (Berzerkers), objective


Gunvor watched the demolition of the red-clad chaos space marines with interest. Here was a worthy foe. Yet he could not leave his post. Hastily barked orders saw his men string out towards the Ultramarines while still maintaining contact with their objective. 

The Assault Cannons chattered death, sending two Ultramarine Terminators spinning down in defeat. The Storm Bolters hit often, but the remaining Terminator stood firm and unharmed.

I was considering charging them into combat, but the stratagem of the Ultramarines to get into cover meant the charge was unlikely to reach. Better to maintain the VP for controlling the objective. Ironically, the felling of two terminators to Assault Cannons probably save the third one's life after he made 7 saves against Storm Bolter wounds as it was just too far to reach him.

Nergui cursed as he saw his landing position. With the failure of the incompetent Ganzorig, Nergui* had been sent to this planet to recover the instructions to a particularly effective bomb. The equally incompetent minion running the teleporter had missed their target. Now in front of him stood a full unit of the hated Space Wolf Terminators. Worse, they were between him and his objective...

He considered having his men charge in and tear the Wolves apart in close combat but the sight of several Storm Shield and Thunder hammer wielding Terminators dissuaded him from such an aggressive choice. Instead he ordered his men to open fire. 

With a furious roar they unleashed a firestorm upon their enemies. Sparks flew as Reaper Autocannons, Combi-bolters and flamers roared their vicious song of death and destruction on the Space Wolves. 

With dismay Nergui saw not one Wolf fall...

The Chaos Space Marines drew objective 5. I almost dropped them in any other part of the field, but this scenario is not set up to be "balanced" per se, it is set up to see how the rules work such as Deep Strike, and also to measure the various weapons against the various armors. So I followed my admittedly artificial yet highly entertaining self-made scenario rule and tried to Deep Strike on top of the objective the wolves were holding. 

Unfortunately they scattered a mighty 11" and then, while their accuracy was phenomenal, only missing 2 or 3 shots, between rolling low on the wound attempts and high on the armor saves, they could not put a single Wolf out of commision. On the bright side, this means the pressure is off of Decimus, the lonely Ultramarine terminator guarding objective 6...

*Nergui means "no name" in Mongolian. The joke will soon be evident...

War of the Relics; Tactical decisions

Commander Bau gave the order and again his Railgun hammered away, this time firing into the swirling melee of Berzerkers and ultramarine terminators. He did not really care who he hit, he just wanted to hit someone. The gun drones followed his lead. 

He nearly clenched his fist in glee as he saw the railgun strike a terminator square in the back, but squelched the celebration as he saw the terminator continue fighting unfazed, even as the pulse rifles also hammered into it without doing any damage.

Finally the Railgun hits something...and then rolls a 1 to wound. Both pulse rifle shots wounded but were saved. Tau, the reputed best shooting unit...I know, I know, one unit. But these are typical results I see for 1-shot items. I consistently roll at least one "1" on them even in fantasy. My faith in the Hammerhead is only saved because the Space Wolf terminators in front of it are going to have to get into base contact to be able to hurt it, and then they only have 3 weapons that can, the Thunder Hammers. It is invulnerable to every shooting item currently on the field.

Ganzorig watched in frustration as his best shot was shrugged off by Decimus. Decimus' power sword was more effective, cleaving through another Berzerker. His compatriots were no more successful, failing to damage their enemies. Meanwhile, the ponderous blows of the Terminators felled three more of his men. The battle was beginning to look hopeless. He had had such faith in his men when he led the charge in but now there were just a handful standing while only one of their foes had fallen.

He pointed his weapon at Decimus. "Let us end this man to man!" The sergeant nodded and the two began their own private duel.

The shrinking number of attacks being dealt by the Berzerkers was not helped when the Terminators only had to make 3 saves. The advantage of going first is only an advantage if they do something with it and Berzerkers are simply not well-equipped to take on heavily armored enemies.  Meanwhile, the Terminators did very few wounds in return, but the power weapons allowing no saves means every wound is a casualty. I am seeing a good use for Terminators...and it is not trying to outshoot volume-fire units.

Decimus saw Ganzorig's challenge and instantly moved to accept it. He saw the blow coming and, trusting his armor, allowed it to strike him, cleaving through his enemy with one well-placed strike. Quickly he turned to see his men dispatch 2 more of their enemies. The outcome of this battle was a foregone conclusion.

Gunvor looked off to the right. He saw the swirling melee of combat and considered heading over to finish off both opponents. He also saw the Hammerhead directly ahead. The tank's massive Railgun could pick his men off long before they could get in range to smash it to bits with their power fists and thunder hammers. 

Yet his mission was not to destroy Tau tanks or any other enemies. He moved towards the location he had been instructed to take and hold. He did not know why that location mattered but it mattered not. He was a Space Wolf and he would do as ordered. 

The Terminator armor did not allow great speed, but it was enough. He had arrived at his destination.

I considered having the Space Wolves fire indiscriminately into the Terminators and Berzerkers but ultimately elected to take the objective instead. Take the sure VP.

VP: Tau 4

Space Wolves 3 

Captain Cyprianus led his marines towards the field he had been told held the remains of a key piece of the gene-seed. How it had come to be left on such a desolate planet he did not know but apparently the battle that had taken long ago had been rediscovered by chapter scholars. Various teams had been sent out to recover fallen warriors and technologies. No opposition was expected.

It was there, though.

Straight ahead he saw the rear of a Tau Hammerhead. With their standard precision his men swung into action. A Krak missile was fired almost as the tank hove into view, the azure beam of his unit's plasma cannon arcing by moments later, even as the remainder of the unit hurled Krak grenades at the tank.

Explosions rocked the tank as the weak armor in it's rear was penetrated again and again by the savage assault. It settled to the ground in wreckage, never to rise again.

VP

Tau; 4

Space Wolves 3

Ultramarines 1

The Tactical Marines need objective 3 and came on area 2. The Tanks' rear armor was of course immune to their bolters and the snap shot of the Missile launcher missed, but the Plasma Gun penetrated and several Krak Grenades did so also.

Then I thought about it and the Bolters actually could have glanced the rear to death, but I think remembering the Krak grenades was good as it gave me a chance to see them in action and remember that is a good option in 8" ranges against tough targets.